Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Landmark Use by Cebus apella

  • Published:
International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated the use of landmarks by capuchins to solve spatial search tasks. In Experiment 1 one subject learned to find a hidden reward in the middle of a 4-landmark configuration. During probe trials, with the landmark configuration expanded and no reward, the capuchin mainly searched near 2 of the 4 landmarks, thus showing it used the landmarks as beacons. In Experiment 2 two subjects learned to find a reward halfway between 2 landmarks, with the inter-landmark line variously oriented with respect to the room. During probe trials, with the landmark configuration expanded and no reward, the capuchins no longer searched in the middle of the landmark configuration. The capuchins searched between the landmarks, but at the training distance from each landmark separately. To do so, the capuchins may have memorized a certain distance to cover, beginning from a landmark, or exploited different types of perceptual information. Therefore, the capuchins use nearby landmarks to locate a goal, but not configurationally. We compare the results with those of previous studies with other animal species and discuss them in relation to issues of spatial cognition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antinucci, F. (1989). Cognitive Stucture and Development in Nonhuman Primates, LEA, Hillsdale N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhamou, S. (1996). No evidence for cognitive mapping in rats. Anim. Behav. 52: 201–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benhamou, S. (1997). On systems of reference involved in spatial memory. Behav. Processes 40: 149–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benhamou, S., and Poucet, B. (1996). A comparative analysis of spatial memory processes. Behav. Processes 35: 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benhamou, S., Savè, J., and Bovet, P. (1990) Spatial Memory in Large Scale Movements: Efficiency and Limitation of the Egocentric Coding Process. J. Theor. Biology 145: 1–12.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, A. T. D. (1996) Do animals have cognitive maps? J. Exp. Biol. 199: 219–224.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biegler, R., McGregor, A., and Healy, S. D. (1999) How do animals “do” geometry? Anim. Behav. 57: F4–F8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bremner, G. J. (1982) Object Localization in Infancy. In Potegal, M. ed., Spatial Abilities: Developmental and Physiological Foundation, Academic Press, New York, pp. 79–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. (1993) The role of physical objects in spatial thinking. In Eilan, N., McCarthy, R., and Brewer, B. (eds.), Spatial Representation, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 65–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A. (1988) Patterns of foraging and range use by three species of Neotropical primates. Primates 29: 177–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, K. (1986) A purely geometric module in the rat’s spatial representation. Cognition 23: 149–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, K., and Gallistel, C. R. (1984) Testing the Geometric Power of an Animal’s Spatial Representation. In Roiblat, H. L., Bewer, T. G., and Terrace H. S. (eds.), Animal Cognition, LEA, Hillsdale N.J., pp. 409–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, K., and Spetch, M. L. (1998) Mechanisms of landmark use in mammals and birds. In Healy, S. eds., Spatial Representation in Animals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christel, M., and Fragaszy, D. M. (2000) Manual function in Cebus apella. Digital mobility, preshaping and endurance in repetitive grasping. Int. J. Primatol. 21: 697–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collett, T. S., Cartwright, B. A., and Smith, B. A. (1986) Landmark learning and visuo-spatial memories in gerbils. J. Comp. Physiol. 158: 835–851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, M. B., and Fragaszy, D. M. (1988) Prehension in Cebus and Saimiri: 1. Grip type and hand preference. Am. J. Primatol. 15: 235–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eilan, N., McCarthy, R., and Brewer, B. (1993) Spatial Representation, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etienne, A., Maurer, R., Georgakopoulos, J., and Griffin, A. (1999) Dead Reckoning (Path integration), Landmarks, and Representation of Space in a Comparative Perspective. In Golledge, R. G. (eds), Wayfind behaviour: cognitive mapping and other spatial processes, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimora, pp. 197–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fedigan, L. M. (1990) Vertrebate predation in Cebus capucinus: Meat eating in a Neotropical monkey. Folia Primatol. 54: 177–186.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fragaszy, D. M., Visalberghi, E., and Fedigan, L. M (2004) The Complete Capuchins: The Biology of the Genus Cebus, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 173–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallistel, R. (1990) The organization of learning, Bradford Brooks/MIT Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garber, P. A., and Paciulli, L. M. (1997) Experimental field study of spatial memory and learning in wild capuchin monkeys Cebus capucinus Folia Primatol. 68: 236–253.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermer, L., and Spelke, E. S. (1994) A geometric process for spatial representation in young children. Nature 370: 57–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H. (1998) Experimental evidence for spatial memory in foraging wild capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella. Anim. Behav. 55: 1229–1243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C., and Cheng, K. (2001) Way-finding and landmarks: The multiple-bearing hypothesis. J. Exp. Biol. 2043: 103–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, L. L. Klein, D. J. (1975) Social and Ecological Contrasts Between Four taxa of Neotropical Primates. Tuttle, R. H. (eds.) Socioecology and Psychology of Primates, Mouton /& Co Publishers, The Hague pp. 59–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, B., and McNaughton, B. L. (1990) Spatial representation in the rat: Conceptual, behavioral, and neurophysiological perspectives. In Kesner, R. P., and Olton, P. S. (eds.), Neurobiology of Comparative Cognition, LEA, Hillsdale N.J., pp. 363–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W. (1978) Cognitive mapping in chimpanzees. In Hulse, S. H., Fowler, H., and Honig, W. K. (eds.), Cognitive Processes in Animal Behaviour, LEA, Hillsdale N.J., pp. 375–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittermeier, A., and van Roosmalen, M. G. M. (1981) Preliminary Observations on Habitat Utilization and Diet in Eight Surinam Monkeys. Folia primatol. 36: 1–39.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mou, W., and McNamara, T. P. (2002) Intrinsic Frames of Reference in Spatial Memory. J. Exp. Psychol.: Learn., Memory and Cognition 28: 162–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcombe, N., Huttenlocher, J., Drummey, A. B., and Wiley, S. G. (1998) The Development of Spatial Location Coding: Place Learning and Dead Reckoning in the Second and Third Year. Cognitive Dev. 13: 185–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, J. (1993) Kant and the sea-horse: An essay in the neurophilosophy of space. In Eilan, N., McCarthy, R., and Brewer, B. (eds.), Spatial Representation, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 43–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, J., and Nadel, L. (1978) The hippocampus as a cognitive map, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pick, H. L., and Lockman, J. J. (1981) From frame of reference to spatial representation. In Liben, L. S., Patterson, A. H., and Newcombe, N. (eds.), Spatial Representation and Behaviour Across the Life Span, Academic Press, New York, pp. 39–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pick, H. L., and Rieser, J. J. (1982) Children’s cognitive mapping. In Potegal, M. eds., Spatial Abilities: Developmental and Physiological Foundation, Academic Press, New York, pp. 107–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potì, P. (2000) Aspects of spatial cognition in capuchins Cebus apella): Frames of reference and scale of space. Anim. Cognition 3: 69–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. G. (1986) Seasonal variations in use of time and space by wedge-capped capuchin monkeys, Cebus olivaceus: Implications for foraging theory. Smithsonian Contrib. Zool. 431: 1–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shettleworth, S. J. (1998) Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 279–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spetch, M. L., Cheng, K., and MacDonald, S. E. (1996) Learning the Configuration of a Landmark Array: I. Touch-Screen Studies with Pigeons and Humans. J. Comp. Psychol. 110: 55–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spetch, M. L., Cheng, K., MacDonald, S. E., Linkenhoker, B. A., Kelly, D. M., and Doerkson, S. R. (1997) Use of Landmark Configuration in Pigeons and Humans: II. Generality across Search Tasks. J. Comp. Psychol. 111: 14–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spinozzi, G., De Lillo, C., and Truppa, V. (2003) Global and local processing of hierarchical visual stimuli in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) J. Comp. Psychol. 117: 15–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, H. (1972) Evolution of primate brains: A comparative anatomical investigation. In R. H. Tuttle (eds.), The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates, Aldine Atherton, Chicago, pp. 155–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, S., Augerinos, G., and Black, A. H. (1980) Stimulus Control of Spatial Behavior on the Eight-Arm Maze in Rats. Learn. Motiv. 11: 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, J. E. (2002) Multiple-Landmark Piloting in Pigeons (Columbia livia: Landmark Configuration as a Discriminative Cue. J. Comp. Psychol. 116: 391–403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, J. E., Olthof, A., and Roberts, W. A. (2000) Landmark use by squirrel monkeys it Saimiri sciureus) Anim. Learn. Behav.28: 28–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh, J. (1983) Five New World Primates: A Study in Comparative Ecology, Princeton University Press: Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolman, E. C. (1973) Cognitive maps in rats and men. In Dows, R., and Stea, D. (eds.), Image and Environment: Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Behaviour, Aldine, Chicago, pp. 27–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello, M., and Call, J. (1997) Primate Cognition. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallortigara, G., Zanforlin, M., and Pasti, G. (1990) Geometric modules in animals’ spatial representations: A test with chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) J. Comp. Psychol. 104: 248–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, via U. Aldrovandi 16b, CNR, Rome, 00197, Italy

    Patrizia Potì & Paola Bartolommei

  2. Diparimento di Biologia animale e dell’uomo, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    Martina Saporiti

Authors
  1. Patrizia Potì
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paola Bartolommei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martina Saporiti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrizia Potì.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Potì, P., Bartolommei, P. & Saporiti, M. Landmark Use by Cebus apella. Int J Primatol 26, 921–948 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-005-5330-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-005-5330-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation